Best electricity contract for a heat pump in 2026

You have a heat pump. You use 15,000–22,000 kWh per year. The question "which contract is best?" isn't trivial — it depends on how much of the electricity you can actually shift in time, and how much risk you'll take. This guide walks through all three contract types, compares them with real 2026 numbers, and gives a clear recommendation for different household profiles.

TL;DR — short answer

• Want to maximise savings: hourly spot (Tibber, Greenely, Cheap Energy) + smart control. Expect 15–30 % lower cost than without control, and up to 44 % lower than fixed price.
• Want to avoid price shock: rolling monthly price. You miss the upside but skip the extreme peaks.
• Fixed price rarely pays off on a 3–5 year horizon, but offers security if you're facing big expenses.

Three contract types — for heat pump owners

Hourly spot

You pay exactly what electricity cost each hour. Expensive 07–09 and 17–20, cheap at night and midday. Volatility is 5–8× between cheapest and most expensive hour.

Good for: Households with smart control (or willingness to set manual schedules). Heat pumps in particular — no other household appliance has comparable shiftable load.

Risk: Individual extreme hours (1,500+ öre/kWh during price shocks). Smart control that backs off during those hours makes the risk minimal.

Rolling monthly price

You pay the month's average price in your area. No peaks, no dips. Currently (2026) around 70–90 öre/kWh in SE3.

Good for: People who don't want to think about it. The pump runs as usual; no control means no gain but no risk either.

Risk: You pay for other people's peaks. When industry drives prices up, you go with them — even if you were asleep.

Fixed price

Lock-in of 1–3 years. Price is 90–120 öre/kWh right now — typically higher than variable, but you know what it costs.

Good for: Households with tight budgets and low risk appetite.

Risk: You miss declines. If electricity drops to 40 öre average, you still pay 100.

Markups and fees — the hidden parts

A "contract" has multiple layers. When someone quotes you a price in öre/kWh, that's usually just the base. Here's what you actually pay every month:

1. Spot price (or fixed price) — what the electricity itself costs
2. Retailer markup — 0–5 öre/kWh, sometimes a monthly fee instead (Tibber charges SEK 39/mo with 0 öre markup)
3. Grid fee — set by your grid operator (Ellevio, E.ON, Vattenfall, etc.). Can be fixed or include a demand charge
4. Energy tax — 49.9 öre/kWh (2026), incl. VAT
5. VAT — 25 % on everything

Smart control only helps with point 1 (and sometimes 3, if you have demand charges). Energy tax and VAT are immovable — they make up 35–50 % of your total bill.

Three common contracts compared

Numbers for an SE3 villa with 18,000 kWh heating consumption (average price 2024 incl. grid, tax and VAT):

Contract	Avg price öre/kWh	Annual cost	With smart control
Tibber hourly spot	125	SEK 22,500	SEK 15,750 (−30 %)
Standard variable	132	SEK 23,760	SEK 23,760 (0 %)
Fixed 12 months	145	SEK 26,100	SEK 26,100 (0 %)

In other words: hourly spot + smart control is 44 % cheaper per year than fixed price for the same household. About a month's rent.

Which retailers should you compare?

The market for pure hourly spot in Sweden is surprisingly thin. Most "hourly spot" contracts from the big players (Vattenfall, Fortum) are hybrids with 1–2 öre of hidden markup. The pure hourly spot providers in 2026 are:

• Tibber — Sweden's best-known. SEK 39/mo, 0 öre markup. Best app, best integrations (Pulse meter, automations)
• Greenely — 0 öre markup, monthly fee varies. Great if you already have a Greenely meter
• Cheap Energy — Skellefteå Kraft's brand. Low monthly fee, pure hourly spot, weaker app

Big retailers' "hourly spot" offerings (Fortum Spot, Vattenfall Rolling Spot) often have 1.5–3 öre hidden markup — that's SEK 270–540/year extra for a villa.

Demand charges — what few people talk about

Ellevio, E.ON and several smaller grid operators (Mälarenergi, Skellefteå Kraft, Jämtkraft, etc.) bill based on your highest power during the month. Draw 12 kW for a single hour and you pay for 12 kW the rest of the month. Smart control that deliberately keeps peaks down saves doubly: lower spot cost and lower demand charge.

Check your grid bill — if it says "demand fee", "subscribed capacity" or "kW price", this applies to you.

How big is the demand charge?

Typical 2026 numbers for Swedish grid operators:

• Ellevio Stockholm: ~SEK 50/kW/mo in winter
• E.ON southern Sweden: ~SEK 45/kW/mo
• Vattenfall Eldistribution (no demand charge for villas)
• Mälarenergi: ~SEK 40/kW/mo

For a villa that peaks at 12 kW instead of 8 kW that means ~SEK 2,400 extra per year at Ellevio. Smart control that keeps the peak around 8 kW saves that directly.

What should you actually do?

Profile 1: You have hourly spot but no smart control

Get smart control first. You're sitting on the lowest-hanging fruit — 15–30 % savings from month one. Tibber users: Therilly is 5 minutes to get started.

Profile 2: You have rolling monthly price

Switch to hourly spot. The switch is free and takes ~10 minutes online. You don't need to cancel your current contract — the new retailer handles it for you. Expect that a rolling contract actually costs you 5–15 % more than pure hourly spot (you pay for other people's peaks without benefiting from your own flexibility).

Profile 3: You have fixed price with a lock-in

Wait until the contract expires. Breaking early typically costs 0.5–2 SEK/kWh of remaining lock-in — rarely worth it. Mark the date in your calendar and switch immediately on expiration.

Profile 4: You're building new or moving in

Hourly spot from day one. No reason to start with anything else in 2026. The market has normalised and hourly spot is the default for anyone optimising energy use.

Common mistakes

1. Thinking "cheap electricity" means the right retailer. In practice it's the grid operator + energy tax that make up 50 % of the bill. You can't change the grid operator — pick the retailer based on markup and service.
2. Turning the pump off "when it's expensive". Manual control misses the nuances (forecast, thermal inertia). You save more with automated control than with 100 manual decisions.
3. Believing fixed price protects you. It protects from upside, not from grid costs (which move anyway). Over 5 years, fixed price has lost 4 of 5 years since 2019.

Summary

If you have a heat pump and don't have hourly spot, you're probably leaving the most money on the table. The switch is free and can be done online. Remember that smart control is what truly unlocks the value — without control, hourly spot saves only marginally (a few percent).

The most expensive item on your bill isn't the spot price but the energy tax + grid. What you CAN affect is the spot price portion. With hourly spot + smart control you halve that.

Want to know how price areas affect you? Read our reference on Swedish electricity price areas, or the deep guide on SE1 vs SE3 vs SE4.